The Golem Mage

Only Alec seemed capable of making Lucas fight properly without holding back, back at his clan, Lucas couldn’t properly duel with the younger generation of the Blades, they viewed every spar as a life-or-death battle as the result could affect their standing in the clan, and even if he won, it would only make them wary of him, especially if the gap in power was too wide.

For the younger mages of the Blades Clan, when someone meant to live out their life as a regular clansman suddenly began showing signs of brilliance, it didn’t just attract favour and admiration from the elders, it also stirred envy.

Envy from those who couldn’t rise to that level, and resentment from others who saw it as a threat to their authority within the clan.

“At the moment, both of you should focus on training,” Alec said coolly.

“There’s no way you can beat me. Don’t forget, fighting me means facing eight golems at my realm too, even if I’m not using my full power, I’m far from helpless.”

With his hands clasped behind his back like a young master lecturing juniors, Alec began walking away, as he did, he cast one last glance toward Beatrice, the ice-cold beauty.

“Like I said before, you should smile more often. I think you’d look three times more beautiful.”

Then he turned and continued on his way, but neither Lucas nor Beatrice were hung up on his final remark, what unsettled them more was the quiet confidence in his voice when he warned them.

Somehow, Alec gave off the uncanny feeling that he knew exactly how strong they were.

Lucas, for one, believed he could defeat any ordinary Peak Tier 6 mage if he fought seriously, and if he donned his Spirit Equipment set, he was sure he could clash with a freshly advanced Tier 7 mage for a few minutes, and still escape, as long as they didn’t specialize in speed.

That was the source of his confidence, though he’d never sparred with Beatrice, however the coffin she always carried radiated a dangerous aura, Lucas didn’t need to know what was inside to believe whatever she had hidden there could definitely allow her to fight him to a standstill.

However, even with all their recent improvements, Alec had calmly stated that there was no way either of them could defeat him, not when he had eight golems at the same realm as himself.

That meant eight low Tier 6 golems under his command.

Normally, that number wouldn’t intimidate either Beatrice or Lucas, but Alec’s golems were anything but normal, and it would be foolish to gauge their strength based solely on realm classification.

Which brought them back to the question that had been bothering them both, just how stronger had Alec become? Could he now defeat a Tier 7 Mage, something neither of them was confident they could do?

Unfortunately, that was a question they wouldn’t be getting an answer to anytime soon.

—

The day passed quickly as the rest of the team headed to the training department to choose their preferred cultivation areas, some selected the Killing Array, others went to the Sword Palace or different advanced training facilities, everyone was focused on increasing their power, even if only slightly, before the upcoming Origin Competition.

Meanwhile, Alec was at home, going through a list of items he planned to get for his teammates on the system store, especially those in his inner circle, as he scrolled through the catalog, one thing was clear, they were ridiculously expensive, to keep up with these costs, he’d need to hunt Tier 7 demonic beasts in the Beast Forest with ease...

And just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine, his last encounter with a creature of that caliber had been brutal.

Still, a small smile crept onto his lips as he remembered that the loot from the Red Salamander was still waiting for him inside the amulet world, he had much to accomplish before diving into that, though.

Laid out in front of him were two familiar relics, the Shadow Fang Armament, which Knight had long outgrown, and the Wolven Tide Relic that he had given to Agnes too.

Alec planned to reforge both into Tier 6 Spirit Equipment set, since he wasn’t starting from scratch, the cost was more manageable, five million system points for each, compared to the ten million it would take to craft entirely new ones Alec still felt it was doable.

However, that five million was still a heavy hole weighing on his mind, but he was determined, he felt it was long overdue for his team to receive proper power-ups.

Though he still planned to upgrade Brandon’s Spirit Equipment set and eventually his own, however, those would have to wait until he accumulated system points again, for now, his focus was on Knight’s and Agnes’ gear, as theirs were far too underpowered.

They rarely even tried to use them in combat.

He decided to start with Knight’s set, placing it at the center of the room, Alec sent a strand of his mana into the Tier 3 equipment. Instantly, a system notification chimed.

There were various upgrade paths—Tier 4, 5, and 6, however Alec skipped straight to the Tier 6 option, which stood at the top and came with a hefty price of five million system points; without hesitation, he selected and confirmed it.

Immediately, white light burst from his body like a surge of pure energy, though it poured out from him, Alec didn’t feel any physical loss, he knew the light was the system’s way of extracting points, its currency being manifested in elemental form.

When he opened his status panel and saw the deduction, it felt like a dagger had pierced his chest.

He’d held onto those points for so long, and now, spending them like this stung more than he expected. Still, the sacrifice had to be made.

Within seconds, his entire room was flooded with blinding white light.

Slowly, Alec removed the blindfold from his eyes, the first time since his mental surge incident, the moment he did, it was as if the entire world snapped into sharper clarity, he tried visualizing the world again in 3D layers, and suddenly, his irises shimmered with a pale blue hue.

And then he willed for it to turn normal again, and as if responding to his will, they returned to normal.

[Ding! Special ability awakened: Energy Eyes.]

There was a small moment of freezing from Alec as he didn’t expect he would just awaken a special ability like that , though the means sounds so simple however after his experience with his black ashes powers he knows better than to underestimate the special ability.

However the reforging of the Shadow Fang Armament was about to begin so he directed his att

ention back to the most important thing at the moment.